Celebrate the Small Things 11-8-17

This post is part of Lexa Cain's bloghop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!

So what am I celebrating this week?

I've had a horrible cold this week, and am starting to feel human again.  I even missed three days of films at the film festival, something I have never done before.  I must have been feeling truly rotten!

I did see two films though, once the cold had receded enough that I could climb out of bed.

The Killing of the Sacred Deer is an extremely odd film, but I expected that from the director of The Lobster.  The story is a kind of domestic horror that creeps up on you in kind of the same way Michael Haneke's Funny Games did.  But this is more absurd than horrific.  I felt like the filmmaking was brilliant, with the music often at odds with what was happening on screen, and the dialogue all being spoken in a way that was just slightly off naturalistic so the rhythm was unsettling.  A lot of the people around me seemed to have thought it ridiculous (listening to them on the way out), but while there were some aspects that were preposterous (Colin Farrell as a heart surgeon??) overall, I thought it was genius.

My Friend Dahmer is about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's high school years.  Based on a book by someone who grew up with him, it shows how Dahmer was an odd fish even as a teen, and how a group of kids befriended him in his senior year.  It shows the dysfunction of his homelife, with a mother who spent time in treatment for mental disorders and a father who couldn't cope.  The performances were universally excellent.  I didn't even recognise Anne Heche as Dahmer's mother even though I kept trying to place the voice.

I have a few more films over this final weekend, then it's back to real life next week.  What a bummer!

What are you celebrating this week?

No Books I've Loved this week

Sorry…  I have a stinking cold and feel like my sinuses are filled with concrete.  I can't think straight to write anything, so there will be no books I've loved post this week…

Apologies.

Weekly Goals 7-8-17

Once again, I'm not setting myself any real goals for the week because I know I won't achieve any of them.

So my goal is to keep seeing and enjoying the films the film festival has to offer.

I've seen three more since I last wrote, so here are my little reviews.

Marjorie Prime is one of those films you kind of want to see again as soon as you come out, with the knowledge you now have.  It's set in a future where computerized holograms of your deceased loved ones can keep you company.  They learn from talking to you and your family and friends, but of course that means your own memories get repeated back to you when the hologram (or Prime) talks to you about things.  It was a fascinating film about the nature of memory and had lots of little twists in it that I wasn't expecting at all.

Berlin Syndrome is a creepy little number and a warning to anyone traveling alone.  An Australian tourist arrives in Berlin, traveling alone.  On her first day there, she meets a handsome English teacher called Andi and he shows her some sights.  The next day she goes home with him, they make love and it seems like she's having the holiday romance she deserves.  Until she realizes he's locked her into his apartment and has no intention of letting her out…

Dina is a documentary about a couple preparing to get married.  Dina and Larry both have Aspergers and watching them prepare for a life together is both touching and hilarious.  I felt like this one was a little long, and while the characters were charming and fascinating, not enough happened to sustain the length of the film.

And that's it so far.  More to come later in the week.

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 4-7-17

This post is part of Lexa Cain's bloghop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!

So what am I celebrating this week?

Still film festivalling…  I've seen a couple more films, both of which I really enjoyed.

Step is about a school for girls in Baltimore.  Selected to go to the school at eleven, the school promises every student who graduates will go to college.  The film follows several girls in the inaugural class through their senior year.  All these girls perform on the school's step team, something that has given them discipline and something to work on as a team.  I really enjoyed this one and wished I'd been able to take my kids to see it too.  These girls are seriously underprivileged and work super hard for everything because they know this school has offered them one shot at a better life.  My kids could learn something from them.

Dealt is a fascinating documentary about Richard Turner, a card magician who is among the best in the world.  And he is good!  Even with the camera following his every move, I couldn't figure out how he did most of the tricks.  And what is even more amazing is that Richard Turner is blind.  I mean, most of us couldn't shuffle and deal with the kind of dexterity Richard does even with good eyesight, and this guy manages to do it without being able to see at all.  It was a really interesting look at a man and his life.

And there are still 10 days to go!

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've Loved: The Female of the Species

This book really got to me.  It deals with some difficult subject matter and some extremely complex morality, but is never preachy.

It's the story of a young woman whose sister was brutally raped and murdered.  That act tore her world apart and she allowed herself to give in to the rage she felt.  Now, years later, she's still consumed by that rage.  To the point where she doesn't believe she has a future, not because she doesn't want one, but because she feels the world is safer if she keeps herself contained.

Then she meets Jack and Peekay and the world opens up for her.  For the first time she has friends and they show her what life could be like if she allowed herself to imagine a future.  And for a while, life for Alex is good.

But one night something happens that unleashes Alex's rage again, and once it's unleashed, it's hard for her to contain it.

This book deals very frankly with rape and the consequences and culture surrounding it.  It also delves into the murky, gray area of retaliation and revenge.  It's not always a fun book to read, but it will definitely make you think, and at times may even shock you.  You will certainly finish it knowing that the female of the species is definitely the one to be wary of….  I just couldn't put it down.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:


Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.

While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.